Inkaterra Canopy

About Inkaterra Canopy

Imagine walking high above the rainforest, seeing the jungle ecosystem in the same way that the birds who fly above see it. Canopy Inkaterra, opened in 2005, allows visitors to do just that.

This 344-meter (1,135-feet)-long complex of seven hanging bridges, six treetop observation platforms, and two 29-meter (95-feet)-tall towers-woven through the crowns of the tallest trees-offers visitors glimpses of rare and unusual flora and fauna, impossible to see from the ground.

A must for your trip to the jungle in Peru. Our tree canopy bridge, one of South America's largest, makes it possible to literally walk through the treetops for more than ¼ mile, suspended 103 feet above the ground, near Tambopata. Millions of species, many still undiscovered, spend their entire lives in this realm. Until recently, only scientists ventured there.

It is considered one of the safest canopy walkways in the world. The ground-level Interpretation Center is packed with information about the rainforest and its ecology. Funding for the canopy project was provided by the World Bank and the National Geographic Society.

THE LAST BIOLOGICAL FRONTIER

This system of bridges, platforms, and towers offers an expansive window onto the world of the tropical rainforest. It enables us to better understand life, the cycles, and the interdependent relationships among the various organisms inhabiting the canopy.

Inkaterra Canopy is considered to be one of the most modern and sophisticated in the world, both due to its camouflage design and because the specialists who built it used ecological materials to prevent negative impact on the environment. The canopy walk enables visitors to enjoy an in-depth look at one of the most productive ecosystems in the rainforest: an enormous food factory where key events for the development of life come together.

Interpretation Center: Here, visitors can learn about the ecological features along the canopy walk, as well as about the environment, the design, and the construction of the Inkaterra Canopy and the support work ITA carries out in some of the communities of the zone.

Vertical Stratification: In Amazonian rainforests, the average size of the tallest trees ranges from 30 to 45 meters (98.4 to 147.6 feet). A few trees grow above these limits, reaching 60 meters (199 feet), and many herbs, bushes, and small trees grow beneath them. The conditions from the forest floor to the highest treetop change noticeably as one ascends, offering a large number and variety of habitats for rainforest species. To explain its complexity, researchers have suggested the concept of vertical stratification of the rainforest.

Safety: The Inkaterra Canopy is considered one of the most modern and sophisticated in the world. It is also one of the safest, due to the use of special cables and lateral mesh on all the bridges and because of the construction of solid vertical towers. It is made from the most resistant woods in the Amazon and the best industrial materials brought from the United States. The entire structure has a lifetime of more than 30 years under Amazonian conditions, although the steel cables can last longer.

Research and inventories of Inkaterra's Ecological Reserve have been conducted since 1978. Among the highlights are the inventory of insects by Professor Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University (who certified that Reserva Ecológica Inkaterra is the area with the greatest richness of ants in the world), the inventory of plants carried out by Dr. Alwyn Gentry of the Missouri Botanical Garden (with a registry of 1,070 species of vascular plants), the study of amphibians and reptiles by Dr. William Duellman (published by Cornell University Press in a 433-page book), the recording of the songs of the birds of the canopy carried out by the Peruvian biologist Edwin Salazar, and several studies published by the University of Kansas. Wildlife studies are still carried out for the purpose of establishing a continuing plan for tourism.